Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew all the way to Moscow on Jan. 29 to warn against an Iranian plan to build a precision missile plant in Lebanon. Speaking to reporters after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Netanyahu said, “I told [Putin] that the threat of precision weapons against Israel is a serious threat that we are not willing to accept, and if we have to act, we will act.” Netanyahu added that he had also told his host that Israel was determined to thwart the Iranian effort to “set the region on fire.” Nonetheless, he was careful to leave room for diplomatic maneuvering, stating, “Red lines have not been crossed yet.”

On the same day, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman addressed what he described as the “Iranian effort to form a noose around Israel,” noting that all recent wars in the region had involved “boots on the ground.” Like Netanyahu, he was careful to temper his remarks, adding, “The last thing I would want is a third Lebanon war.”

Liberman's warnings were followed days later by reports of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) preparing for the biggest paratroop exercise in recent years. IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis also remarked that last September, Israel had carried out its largest military exercise on the northern border in two decades. In an article published on Arabic-language websites, Manelis had written that Israel was preparing for every scenario on that front. He made sure to add, however, that Israel is not looking for war.

Israelis should hope that these messages were heard clearly in Tehran and that they fell on receptive ears at the Lebanese headquarters of its proxy, Hezbollah, and its leader, Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. As reported in Al-Monitor last month, Hezbollah has an estimated capacity to fire 3,000 to 4,000 deadly precision rockets at Israel every day if a third war with Lebanon were to break out. A clash with Iran and its allies could spread to the Golan Heights, sweep up the Islamist-ruled Gaza Strip and ignite the West Bank. A responsible Israeli government would do everything in its power to prevent such a scenario from materializing. Resolute declarations, messages in the Arabic media and perhaps even paratroop drills are the way to go, but there is no guarantee they will suffice in the long run.